The Urban Mechanic (no, not the mayor) refuses to count Downtown Crossing out, because of its good bones:

... In the case of geography and placemaking, good bones can be seen as transit, roads, and other elements of the built environment. Downtown Crossing has the best of all of this. All five of the MBTA urban transit lines converge on/around the Downtown Crossing area. South Station and the emerging South Boston waterfront area; next door. Boston Common and the Public Garden is but a block away. The Financial District is; well right there. Emerson College and Suffolk University are right in the neighborhood. Tufts New England Medical Center is next door. Beacon Hill; across the way. Government Center; next door. The Theater District (and the 19 screen Boston Common Cinemas); right in the neighborhood. ...

So, current conditions may feel a bit dower, but one thing seems completely certain to Urban Mechanic. Downtown Crossing will remain vibrant, hopefully always a bit gritty, definitively urban and uniquely; Boston.

Boston Police report arresting two alleged junior-grade punks in Dorchester yesterday for allegedly walking into some guy's garage on Sydney Street in Dorchester and walking out with his bicycle:

The witness and another neighbor followed the suspects, apprehended them and brought them back to the scene. Both witnesses reported to officers that the two juvenile suspects told them that it was nothing and that "the police won't do nothing but take our names and let us go." Officers spoke to the two suspects at the scene, and both were laughing and made light of the incident.

Yes, you know exactly what happened next. Officers promptly arrested the two kids, ages 13 and 14, and took them to the nearest police station for booking on charges of breaking and entering and larceny.

Innocent, etc.

Dan Tobin provides the photographic proof Savin Hill has at least one turkey, along with proof that Savin Hill has a Little League.

... Dorchester hasn't been a place where wild turkeys roamed free for quite some time - it was incorporated in 1630. So I think it's fair to assume the turkey I saw this morning was nearly 400 years old. ...

Plumbing?
Hardware?
Lighting fixtures?

Answer below:

Boston Police report arresting two alleged goons for a holdup around 12:18 Sunday morning at 11 Elton St. in Dorchester.

Police say the trio, clad identically in black hoodies, approached the man. One produced a stick, another a large knife and the third stuck something hard in the man's back and said it was a gun, police say. The made off with $20 and a paycheck made out to the victim.

Police say officers round up two of the three not long after and found a 12-inch knife, a crumpled $20 bill and a paycheck made out to the victim.

Ailton M. Rodriguez, 23, of Dorchester, was charged with armed robbery. The other suspect, not named because he's 15, was charged with armed robbery and carrying a dangerous weapon.

Innocent, etc.

A man was struck and killed by a Red Line train around 11:20 last night at Savin Hill, the Globe reports.

A man was struck and killed by a commuter-rail train around 8 this morning in Belmont, the Herald reports.

WANTED

Authorities are now hunting for Steven Odegard, 41, for the stabbing death of Daniel Yakovleff in Dorchester on Jan. 17.

Odegard, in whose bed Yakovleff was found, was indicted by a Suffolk Superior Court grand jury yesterday, District Attorney Dan Conley and Police Commissioner Ed Davis said in a statement, adding that, based on the evidence collected over the past ten months:

Odegard retrieved a knife from his own kitchen and stabbed Yakovleff multiple times, killing him.

Police went to Odegard's current Dorchester Avenue apartment this morning, but Odegard had already fled.

The week after Yakovleff's murder, Odegard's lawyer maintained his innocence - and pointed to an unknown third man allegedly in the apartment - in a Bay Windows interview.

Yakovleff was last seen alive leaving the Eagle Bar in the South End, where Odegard had picked him up.

Anybody who knows where Odegard is can contact Boston Police homicide investigators at 617-343-4470, the anonymous CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or, via text message, by texting TIP to 27463.

In memory of Daniel Yakovleff.

Boston Police report that when officers saw a man clutching his face, standing on a Savin Hill Avenue porch right after seeing three guys running toward Dorchester Avenue, they figured there was a connection.

According to police, the man noticed three guys following him as he walked home from the T stop shortly before 10 p.m. on Sunday:

The victim further stated hat he made it home and was about to close his front door when he heard someone say, "Yo Yo!" The victim, thinking it was a friend, slightly opened the front door to the building when he noticed the same three suspects that had been followed him from the T station on his porch. The victim attempted to shut the door but was overpowered by the suspects who forced their way into the building. The victim reported that the suspects upon forcing their way into the building started punching him and knocked him to the ground. The victim reported that one of the three suspects held him while the others repeatedly assaulted him and went though his pockets.

Fortunately, the man's brother heard the commotion, came downstairs and the three fled. And police nabbed Lionel Ighodaro, 18, Angelo Pina, 17, and Jamayl E. Wilson, 17 all of Dorchester and charged them with assault with intent to rob and breaking and entering in the nighttime.

Innocent, etc.

Time for annual slog, or maybe a quick jog, to get some egg nog. Savin Hill, to be exact.